Tagged: richardson

So last Saturday Colin and I babysat for my cousin. Wanting to go do something with the boys and not just stay at home we decided to take them to Santa’s Village in Richardson. While their mother dressed the boys exceedingly warmly, Colin and I were ill prepared and nearly froze!

When we got to their house the youngest, “Tiny C,” as Colin has dubbed him, was asleep. We nearly woke him up with the doorbell. I was most concerned with Tiny C thinking that he’d want nothing to do with us and be sad when we left his mom and dad at the house to go see Santa. His older brother, “Lil’ C,” again a nickname Colin picked, was on his way home from a birthday party. When Lil’ C got to the house his face was painted half blue and half red! He was adorable, and a little shy at first. We don’t get that far north nearly enough for them to not feel a little apprehensive when we come around.

So as Tiny C woke up and Lil’ C warmed up to us we decided we needed to get a move on it so we wouldn’t be lines all night. So Tiny C got his diaper changed and started putting on layer upon layer of clothing. At one point his mother made mention that he didn’t match and asked if I cared. I really didn’t care what the kid wore I was mentally prepping myself for a night of wailing cause we were gonna drive off and leave Mom and Dad. So Tiny C was ready and Mom had layered up Lil’ C and so we were all heading to the car. I told Tiny C, “Lets so get in the car so we can see Santa.” He jumped up and ran to the living room, mentally I’m thinking, “Great, now I’ve done it. I should have sneakily put him in his car seat and just driven away.” I follow Tiny C and he stops and in a delighted squeal says, “Wiggles!” For those who don’t know its a kid show!

He took the empty DVD case and smiling like he had two $100 bills in his hands made a mad dash for the door opened it nearly hitting me in the head. His side of the van was open and he was climbing in before I could be amazed he wasn’t crying. This kid sat in his seat found his head phones for the DVD player and turned them on–by himself–and let us know he was ready to watch Blues Clues. WOW

Getting his height taken

So we made it to Santa’s Village and Lil’ C’s job was to choose which house he wanted to go in so we could get in line. We saw Mrs Clause, The North Pole’s Hospital, The North Pole’s Pet Shop, The North Pole’s Crime Fighting Center (didn’t know there was crime in the North Pole). While in line to see McGruff and the Policeman Colin wanted to know on a scale of “Very Important,” “Not Very Important,” and “I Don’t Care” where Lil C fell in terms of getting to see Santa–he fell at “Very Important.” With that Colin went to stand in line to see Santa. We joined him right as he was reaching the “60 Minutes From Here” to see Santa sign.

Lil C not being one for pictures had been elusively avoiding them all night. So the deal was that if we were gonna stand in the freezing cold for an hour he WAS taking a picture and he WAS gonna show his face. So we did and he did, but he also managed to have a look on his face that seemed to say, “I’m only doing this cause I was told I had too. So I’m gonna look as unhappy as possible.” Thanks Lil C!

All in all we had a blast. Lil’ C passed out on the couch when we got home and Tiny C was off to bed shortly there after. I love bonding time with my family. It made me miss another of my lil’ cousins that I used to spend a lot of time with back in the day. Of course I’m not cool anymore as he is almost 14! Maybe one day I’ll be cool again and he’ll want to come and visit.